By Travis Cram | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

All Texas quarterback Colt McCoy wanted was some help.

A combination that had worked so well for the No. 1 Horns coming into the game Saturday night was the one between quarterback Colt McCoy and wide receiver Jordan Shipley.

Texas' Jordan Shipley drops a pass ahead of Texas Tech's Brent Nickerson.

Shipley finished the night with 6 receptions for 42 yards, but even those catches didn’t have a big impact.

After Texas scored with 1:29 to play to take a 33-32 lead, the win slipped away as easily as the balls McCoy threw to his receivers.

Dropped passes and smart coverage by the Tech defense kept the tandem in check that lit up Oklahoma State for 168 yards on 15 receptions.

“They did a good job of putting their hands on him past five yards,” McCoy said. “They covered him well in the flats and on deep routes with help. They just had a great scheme.”

The two roommates could not complete a single connection in the first half.

Shipley did not get his first reception until McCoy completed an 8-yard pass to him at the 5:27 mark in the third quarter.

Shipley would have had one earlier, but the catch was negated by a holding penalty.

When McCoy appeared to try and force one to his favorite wide out on the following play, the two were left watching Tech safety Daniel Charbonnet waltz into the end zone with McCoy’s lone interception.

It was his lowest reception total for Shipley since being held to four catches against Colorado earlier this season.

He had a reception of at least 15 yards or more in each of Texas’ eight games this season until Saturday night’s loss. His longest catch against Tech was for 11 yards.

Malcolm Williams seemed to thrive off the attention on Shipley, although he had just as many catches when he hauled in a 91-yard touchdown reception to give him 182 yards on four catches and bring Texas within three.

Texas coach Mack Brown praised Williams for his effort and said it wasn’t necessarily a matter of what Tech was doing differently against Shipley, but a lack of helping a quarterback “that fought until the end.”

“I knew they were good but I was just disappointed in our offense in the first half with dropped passes and we just didn’t play very well,” he said. “